Rat Care

[abbicus]

Sweet Pea has started climbing again. She scaled the big cage and I leapt up to provide a safety net lest she fall. Now, since she took a climbing hiatus, I'm leery of letting her climb that high in case she was having some sort of physical issue and was not just distracted by carpet chewing.

The girls were having a tiff today and it was funny because they went through the whole gamut of rattie aggression. Usually its just hump and wrestle, or aggressive groom and chase (or some combination of two things), but today they: boxed, faced each other swaying, humped, chased, agressive groomed, and wrestled.. all in one go.

BTW, rat boxing is hilarious (I imagine little kids, arms fully extended, slapping at each other). Sweet Pea seems to have realized Poppy has crappy balance, because she takes little sideways swipes at Poppy and knocks her down. Poppy gets up, they paw at each other a bit, Sweet Pea swipes, Poppy goes down. This repeats about 5 or 6 times until it devolves into a hump/chase.

edit: I realize I'm completely crazy, complaining about Sweet Pea's lack of climbing, only to worry about her falling once she starts again.

[Miso Vegan]

Originally Posted by lamb

Did you ever say where you buy the peanut butter sesame balls?

I got them at Petco, they're KayTee brand, and the new bag I bought today is still in my car so tomorrow I can tell you the name of the product.

[lamb]

Thanks Miso! As long as they're at PetCo- that's what I needed to know Wasn't sure if they were something local; speaking of which I found rat treats on Etsy too. I don't think I could love that website any more if I tried.

Abbicus your account of the girls fighting was too funny- the boxing part of it made me think of this youtube video I saw a little while ago- I lol'ed in several different parts.

"The Stare Off"

What does she do when she gets to the top- does she come down again or does she hang out until you scoop her off? I'd be leery too, I don't blame you! Has she done it since then? Sounds like a good sign she's feeling good!

*video note* the info on the side noted that the hamster cage was way too small for them and actually not their real cage, that it was just for introductional purposes*

[Miso Vegan]

"Krunch-a-Rounds."

[lamb]

thanks miso!

OMG just this moment Hobbes ran up to me with a carpet thread stuck between his two front teeth, just like abbicus said! He looked like a really big nerd but was almost unaware of it, just running around.

[Miso Vegan]

[abbicus]

Originally Posted by lamb

thanks miso!

OMG just this moment Hobbes ran up to me with a carpet thread stuck between his two front teeth, just like abbicus said! He looked like a really big nerd but was almost unaware of it, just running around.

Haha! I know, I love how they look when they "floss".

She has climbed once more since the first time. Before she would climb down, but I've been plucking her off the top as soon as she get up there. Her "climbing down" is more like a controlled slide using the horizontal bars as break points. The more nerve wracking part is when she flips around to go down butt first. Rosie was even more extreme and would climb down face first, but Sweet Pea is not into exreme sports.

I'm thinking I don't actually want her climbing the big cage that much anymore. She is getting a bit old and they way they do it (especially going down) is a bit crazy. I think for now I'll just try to stick my hand under her when she decides to do it. What do you think: should I let her or no?

[lamb]

Originally Posted by abbicus

What do you think: should I let her or no?

Maybe you don't want advice from perhaps one of the most paranoid rat parents out there, but I guess whenever our boys reach the top we pluck them down- they do the same "controlled" slide you speak of and I worry about them wrenching a tail or twisting an ankle. They have hopped around with unexplained limps from time so I figure why add to the possibilities...

I figured to myself today that I should (try to) teach the boys a few "tricks"- not for my amusement or anything, but just to stimulate their minds with some different info. Doubtful that they'll be interested or attentive, but I'm sure they'll have fun eating extra treats

[abbicus]

Please, after all my "something's wrong with my rat" posts and you haven't figured out I'M the paranoid one? :-P

What are you going to teach them. My ratties know nothing (trick wise, I mean. They know a lot about figuring out what I don't want them to chew and then destroying it.)

[lamb]

Well, the boys are already experts at "chew on the coffee table like mad and then run like hell so it looks like it wasn't you," but I think we'll also work on "under" and "fetch." "Under" is just me making a C shaped arch with my fingers and thumb against the floor and having them walk through- eventually it could graduate to them walking through 3 or 4 arches for a treat. As for fetch, I saw a video on youtube where a rat retrieved a small square piece and put it in the person's hand for a treat.

I'm guessing they won't really be interested in playing these games with me, but in case they are I thought I'd give it a shot- something new for them anyway.

[abbicus]

It will probably be interesting to see how many ways they figure out to get the treat and NOT do what you wanted.

[bumblebee]

My daughter's rat "escaped" again today. This means that my daughter let her out of her cage and didn't keep an eye on her. Hours later we found her in the linen closet. The rat has chewed numerous pieces of clothing and made a few holes in the carpet in my daughter's bedroom.

My daughter tells me that she won't let the rat roam free unsupervised, but she does it over and over again. So, today the cage was moved to my son's room and she's forbidden to take the rat into her room, ever again.

I didn't know what else to do.

[Miso Vegan]

What about rat-proofing her room, and let her have the rat unsupervised only in there?

[bumblebee]

Unfortunately I don't think there's a practical way to rat proof my daughter's room. It's carpeted, and she sews, so she has a lot of cloth in there. Plus, she's messy by nature and often leaves good clothing on the floor.
It's sad because she really loves her rat.

[abbicus]

Sweet Pea's tail seems paler than normal. Have you noticed this in your rats? I couldn't find anything online so thought I'd ask. I'm probably just being paranoid. She just snarfed part of a blueberry muffin so is eating okay.

Her tail might be a bit colder too, which is odd because it is quite hot here and you'd think she'd be venting heat from her tail to cool down.

On the other hand, she scaled the big cage today (with my hand right under her bum the whole way). She also got a thread in her teeth and she actually got it out herself by using her hands to pull it out. It was impressive and saved us both the stress of having to remove it. Silly rat.